My brother-in law-tried to trade in a Martin X-series 12-string at Guitar Center, but they would not offer him anything for it. They said it was in such poor condition that it would cost more to repair than the guitar would be worth. I don't have much experience with setups - none with acoustics - but I told him I would take a look at it. Sure enough, it was unplayable. The neck bow was something you could shoot an arrow with. The string action could be measured with a yardstick. And it was impossible to tune. But I figured I'd take a shot at it, what the heck, it's worthless as-is anyway.
First I adjusted the truss rod. These Martins (all acoustics?) require a hex wrench with a super long stem. By good fortune I had one in the right size (5mm). Gave it a few rounds of tightening, ended up bringing it all the way as far as it would go. Got almost all the bow out. Just a bit of relief, but close enough. Giving it some humidity probably helped too - it seemed pretty dry. So the neck is close to straight but the strings are still a mile off the board. Must be the saddle. Took some measurements, and I ended up sanding off a ton. I took off at least 3/64 across the bottom, maybe more. Might have still gone a bit more but I didn't want to push it. Polished the whole thing. Tightened the tuners, which were all loose and rattling. Next, new strings. I'd asked my BIL when the last time he changed them. "Never." Ah, got it. Popped the new strings on. (Lord, 12-strings are a pain....) And.....?
Perfect. The guitar plays perfectly. The nut was good. The action is now good. Maybe the tiniest bit high in the middle, but like I said I didn't want to push it and go too far, and with 12-strings you're pretty much up at the top of the neck all the time anyway. I played it quite a lot over a few days, just to see if everything was stable. Yep. Solid as a rock. And GC told him it was worthless. All it needed was a setup.
So my BIL is very happy, and I am pretty proud of myself. Thanks TDPRI, because I have pretty much learned all the little I know right here.
First I adjusted the truss rod. These Martins (all acoustics?) require a hex wrench with a super long stem. By good fortune I had one in the right size (5mm). Gave it a few rounds of tightening, ended up bringing it all the way as far as it would go. Got almost all the bow out. Just a bit of relief, but close enough. Giving it some humidity probably helped too - it seemed pretty dry. So the neck is close to straight but the strings are still a mile off the board. Must be the saddle. Took some measurements, and I ended up sanding off a ton. I took off at least 3/64 across the bottom, maybe more. Might have still gone a bit more but I didn't want to push it. Polished the whole thing. Tightened the tuners, which were all loose and rattling. Next, new strings. I'd asked my BIL when the last time he changed them. "Never." Ah, got it. Popped the new strings on. (Lord, 12-strings are a pain....) And.....?
Perfect. The guitar plays perfectly. The nut was good. The action is now good. Maybe the tiniest bit high in the middle, but like I said I didn't want to push it and go too far, and with 12-strings you're pretty much up at the top of the neck all the time anyway. I played it quite a lot over a few days, just to see if everything was stable. Yep. Solid as a rock. And GC told him it was worthless. All it needed was a setup.
So my BIL is very happy, and I am pretty proud of myself. Thanks TDPRI, because I have pretty much learned all the little I know right here.
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